[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15129-15130]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                              THE ECONOMY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, this morning I would like to use this 
opportunity to congratulate the American people on a remarkable 
achievement. We are now 112 months into the current economic expansion, 
the greatest period of prosperity ever. Thanks to the

[[Page 15130]]

innovation and hard work of everyone in this Nation, we have built a 
$9.4 trillion economy. Just to put this in perspective, 112 months of 
continued economic growth. This economic expansion has lasted for over 
9 years, starting during the Bush administration in April of 1991. The 
roots of this era of prosperity, however, reach further back, to 1991.
  Michael Cox, an economist with the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, 
traces this unprecedented expansion even further back, a total of 18 
years. Since 1982 the U.S. economy has benefited from continued growth 
for all but 6 months in this 18-year period. That is right, over the 
last 205 months the economy has been in a slump for only 180 days.

                              {time}  0930

  Now, many of us believe the architect of this expansion, this 
incredible economic force, was President Ronald Reagan. So we ask, why?
  Reagan pushed the idea of reducing taxes. He reduced the taxes from a 
top rate of 70 percent, and we forget about that today, down to 28 
percent. He initiated stability of the currency and monetary policies; 
and the inflation rate was 15 percent and he brought it down to 3 
percent in 1986, and then he launched deregulation of the energy, gas, 
transportation industries. Many of us believe this unleashed the 
creativity of the American people by allowing them to keep more of what 
they earned and saved.
  What are the fruits from this dynamic reduction in taxes? It has been 
announced recently, yesterday, that the Federal Government is 
forecasting a $4.6 trillion budget surplus over the next 10 years. This 
year, the Federal budget surplus will be the largest ever, $224 
billion. That is 2.4 percent of our Nation's total economic output.
  Mr. Speaker, these surpluses have helped us to pay down the national 
debt by $140 billion over the past 2 years, and by a total of $400 
billion by the end of this year. We are on a pace with our plan to 
eliminate the public debt by the year 2013. However, we should not 
forget the source of these dollars.
  The fact that we are running surpluses is one thing, but the fact is, 
the American people are being overcharged. Over the next decade, the 
people of this Nation could end up paying $4.6 trillion more in taxes 
than the Government needs. That amounts to an overcharge of $14,000 for 
every man, woman and child in this country. If we do the math, that 
turns out to be $56,000, and I assume every family out there would 
rather have this $56,000 than to give it to the United States 
Government.
  Mr. Speaker, only 4 months ago, the total surplus projected for the 
next 10 years stood at $2.9 billion. Interestingly, this revised 
increase of $1.3 trillion alone would be more than enough, more than 
enough to cover the tax cuts vetoed by the President last year and the 
$500 billion tax cut presented by the Vice President this year, 
combined. This newly anticipated windfall also would be enough for the 
tax cuts advocated by Governor George Bush of Texas.
  Does this mean that the whole $4.6 trillion should be earmarked for 
tax relief? No, I am not saying that. Mr. Speaker, $2.3 trillion of 
this surplus is expected to come from Social Security taxes, and those 
dollars should be set aside to meet the needs for older Americans. That 
is why the Republicans created a lock box to protect the Social 
Security surplus. However, Mr. Speaker, that leaves almost $2.2 
trillion in non-Social Security surpluses; and a portion of that, I 
believe, should go to the rightful owners.
  As I mentioned, this year's surplus will run about $220 billion. 
Recently, we voted to end the death tax, a measure that the President 
has threatened to veto. This death tax raised $23 billion in 1998, one-
tenth of the 2000 surplus. We recently voted to reduce the tax penalty 
on married couples. The cost of making the Tax Code more fair for 
families is $182 billion over 10 years. That is less than this year's 
surplus alone. Again, the defenders of big government say we cannot 
afford this.
  Mr. Speaker, I know the American people can spend their own money 
more wisely than the Government can spend it. We trust our citizens to 
vote to raise a family and to serve on juries; let us allow them a 
portion of their surplus, and I believe they will be better off.

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